At halftime, with FC Edmonton trailing 1-0, coach Colin Miller was so angry about his team’s performance, he said that “we’ll end up being relegated, and there is no relegation.”

From next Wednesday (May 4) to May 22, the Eddies will play six games. That works out to an average of a game every three days for the better part of a month. Beginning with next Wednesday’s date in Jacksonville, the Eddies will play four NASL matches and two Amway Canadian Championship matches in the span of a little less than three weeks.

“The guys are in a good place, but we need to get out of here,” Miller said after Tuesday’s training session. “It’s getting claustrophobic. Guys are on top of each other, there’s a bit of chirping going on at training, as you would imagine. We’re now into our fourth or fifth week of preseason at this little place and it’s understandable that we need to get out and get some fresh air."

“It was Ritchie Jones who reached out,” said Eckersley. “And I wanted something a bit different for my family. And my little brother has played in Canada, for Toronto, and he had nothing but good things to say about Canada.”